Social Investment

Innovative financing to deliver sustainable funding for Israel's social sector

The Portland Trust is exploring how to encourage economic development in under-invested Israeli communities through social investment. A number of areas are being examined including case studies of community investment funds from different countries, effective financial tools for social investment, potential beneficiaries and income sources.

The Portland Trust is working to ensure that social entrepreneurs across the entire Israeli social sector have the same resources at their disposal as business entrepreneurs.

With other key local players in the social investment field, The Portland Trust has created the Israeli Social Investment Forum to consolidate activity in Israel and work together to foster a thriving market. The Forum meets regularly bringing together the leaders of the social investment industry in Israel and some of Israel’s leading social entrepreneurs. The Forum is mapping the Israeli market through ongoing presentations from and meetings with Israeli social entrepreneurs from targeted sectors and exploring ways to obtain higher social and financial returns from social investment.

In addition to this, The Portland Trust has analysed international Social Venture Funds to develop a model and establish an Israeli Social Venture firm, and is also exploring the creation of a social investment bank, similar to Big Society Capital in the UK.

Since 2013, Sir Ronald Cohen, founder and Chair of The Portland Trust, has led the Social Impact Investment Taskforce, established under the UK’s presidency of the G8. The Taskforce bought together government officials and senior figures from the worlds of finance, business and philanthropy, from across the G8 countries to stimulate the development of an effective global Social Impact Investment market. In September 2014 a report was published, 'Impact Investment: The Invisible Heart of Markets'.

The Portland Trust is a British non-profit ‘action tank’ whose mission is to promote peace and stability between Israelis and Palestinians through economic development.